Member System Profiles: Winfield Gas Utility

The Winfield Gas Utility is one of the smaller members of APGA, serving 5500 chiefly residential customers in a 25 square mile area. However, it is the largest municipal gas utility in the state of Kansas. They have implemented an aggressive program to upgrade their infrastructure to eliminate leaks and improve system performance. They have also created a unique program of out-reach on gas safety to school kids that is literally explosively entertaining.

The Kansas gas systems have a heating season from mid-October through early April,

Winfield Gas crew replacing bare steel mains.

when the mercury can drop into the teens, and below zero wind chill is not uncommon. “However, we have not had a sustained cold spell since the El Nino in 1998”, notes George Bronson, Director of Winfield Gas and Wastewater. This, along with the current high gas costs, has significantly reduced consumption, even though the utility has added new load.

One thing that Winfield gas has been doing to improve their bottom line for the past 12 years at no charge to their customers has been replacing bare steel mains and services which corrode easily and have been the source of numerous leaks in past years. These lines are being replaced with polyethylene pipe which will last in the ground for an undetermined amount of time and is much less prone to leaks. “We started with 45 miles of bare steel mains and are now down to 10, so we have a pretty good handle on it”, according to George. They are averaging replacing 5 miles of main and an equivalent amount of service lines per year. With the replacement project in full swing, corrosion leaks are negligible, and lost and unaccounted for gas has gone from 2-3% to almost zero. Leak calls have dropped off dramatically in the past 12 years, from 130 leaks a year down to around 15-20. They are also eliminating the low pressure, 8 ounce system at the same time and upgrading to their 30 pound system. This will eventually eliminate the need for crews to manually adjust pressures periodically throughout the day during the winter months to maintain adequate supply during heavy usage. “When the replacement project is completed, the system will basically run itself.” According to George, “The biggest cause of damage now is 3rd party damage, because it seems no matter what we do, people will still dig fence posts and hit service lines.”

George Bronson

Winfield Gas has been involved in a very innovative outreach program since 1991. Every year during Public Natural Gas Week they take their ‘traveling gas show’ to 5th graders in the area schools to teach about gas history, safety tips, and the properties of natural gas – using pyrotechnics. To demonstrate that gas is lighter than air, they fill soap bubbles with natural gas, and watch them float up towards the ceiling. However, they light the bubbles on the way up, causing the bubbles to briefly explode. “The kids love it- they always want to see it a few more times.”

A key part of the education, is giving the kids ‘scratch and sniffs’ so they know what gas smells like. After they scratch them, the classroom really gets lively with comments about where the “odor” came from. George says that he knows the program is successful because when the kids take these and other handouts home, they lay around the house and before long the utility gets phone calls from parents who think they smell gas.

This has been enormously popular program over the 14 years they have been doing it, and has been taken to other towns in Kansas hours away. “A lot of the kids who have seen the presentation from the very beginning are now married with kids of their own, and they remember the gas safety tips, so I figure we have made an impact.”

Winfield Gas employees igniting a bubble filled with gas at a local school

As for what APGA has done for Winfield that helps, George is quick to say “Everything!” The Safety handbook, the public awareness arena, operations, legislative, and regulatory information keeps George updated. He reads the newsletter all the way through, and “makes sure the Superintendent reads it too.” He is also a frequent visitor to the website. Winfield Gas has used information from APGA to explain to city administrators and elected officials about issues related to natural gas, especially regarding the high cost of gas.

Winfield, as well as the other municipals in Kansas, has been working toward compliance with OQ2 and getting prepared for OQ3 (B31Q). In addition to the efforts of APGA staff, the Kansas Municipal Utilities (KMU) has completed a draft of qualification procedures available to all members to qualify their gas employees. Along with the assistance of KMU’s Executive Director, Colin Hansen, Leo Haynos, the Chief of Pipeline Safety for the Kansas Corporation Commission, has also been very helpful in developing the qualification program. So with everyone’s efforts, the small municipals in Kansas are able to stay on the regulatory playing field and achieve compliance.

In addition, KMU’s Colin Hansen is planning to partner with APGA’s John Erickson to present a Public Awareness workshop, and has also requested that APGA President Bert Kalisch come out for the KMU Annual Conference in May for a legislative and regulatory update for those attending.

Originally in April 11, 2005 Public Gas News